{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", party = \"Republican\" and state = \"VA\" sorted by date descending", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402404", "Griffith Statement on the Passing of State Senator Ben Chafin", "2021-01-01", "2021", "2021-01", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Statement on the Passing of State Senator Ben Chafin \r\n  \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement on the passing of state Senator Ben Chafin:\r\nSenator Ben Chafin was a great legislator as well as a friend. As a native of Southwest Virginia, he cared deeply for its people and was a tremendous advocate for them in the state Senate. I will miss this good and dedicated public servant. My prayers are with his wife Lora and his family.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402403", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 12.31.20", "2020-12-31", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The year 2020 was a difficult one, but as the year draws to a close, I want to highlight something about the year that went right.\r\nOperation Warp Speed accomplished what had been considered nearly impossible: the development, manufacture, and distribution of a safe and effective vaccine to combat COVID-19.\r\nPresident Trump announced Operation Warp Speed in May. His Administration recognized that meeting the challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic would require the investment of Federal Government resources, partnership between the public, private, and scientific sectors, and cutting red tape that would impede delivery of a safe and effective vaccine.\r\nThis effort was supported by almost $10 billion in funding included in the CARES Act passed by Congress with my support.\r\nThe project focused on six vaccine candidates. Seven months after Operation Warp Speed was launched and less than one year after COVID-19 began spreading widely around the globe, two vaccine candidates were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use.\r\nOn December 11, the FDA approved for emergency use the first vaccine created by Pfizer. After clinical trials including over 43,000 participants, the vaccine was found to be 95 percent effective.\r\nA vaccine developed by Moderna was subsequently approved for emergency use on December 18. Thirty thousand people participated in its clinical trials, and its efficacy rate is 94.5 percent.\r\nThese vaccines are the fastest ever produced for a novel pathogen. In fact, the average development timeline for a vaccine is eight to twelve years. Operation Warp Speed reduced the time needed by maximizing the number of participants in Phase 3 trials and manufacturing vaccine doses while waiting for the FDA's emergency use authorization order.\r\nWhile bureaucratic hurdles were lowered, the vaccine development process did not skimp on safety.\r\nAs a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health matters, I was briefed repeatedly throughout the process or involved in hearings featuring public health officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the FDA, as well as the vaccine manufacturers. I am confident that they maintained high safety standards as they pursued a vaccine.\r\nWhile the vaccines were under development, the Trump Administration planned ahead for their delivery and administration to Americans. It purchased millions of doses of the prospective vaccines and made agreements with pharmacies that would be able to vaccinate people.\r\nWhile enough vaccine doses will be manufactured to cover most of the population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended the priorities for vaccination while supplies remain limited. It suggested health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities be first in line, followed by older adults and frontline essential workers, all groups with a higher susceptibility to the coronavirus than other parts of the population.\r\nThe vaccines are broadly safe, but caution is appropriate for people with allergic reactions and certain other conditions. The CDC recommends that you talk to your doctor if you have had a severe allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies to determine if a COVID vaccine is a safe decision for you. Further, if you have had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID vaccine, the CDC recommends not getting that vaccine.\r\nI also believe that vaccinations should not be mandatory. This would be true particularly for people who object to taking it due to their religious principles or as a matter of conscience. I also reject the idea of individuals being required to carry around a vaccination certificate, which is too close to the identification papers of highly restricted societies for my comfort.\r\nOperation Warp Speed is just one component of the Federal Government's efforts to combat the coronavirus. Other therapeutics and treatments have also been developed at a rapid pace and are also being deployed as the pandemic still inflicts widespread sickness.\r\nThe United States has long excelled at scientific innovation, but even among our country's long list of achievements, from the light bulb to the first manned landing on the Moon, Operation Warp Speed stands out  for its scale, speed, safety, and ultimately lives saved. Amid all the bad news of 2020, this accomplishment is one worth praising.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402402", "Griffith Statement on CASH Act", "2020-12-28", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement regarding the CASH Act of 2020:\r\nYesterday, the President signed the more than $2.3 trillion Omnibus, which includedCOVID relief. After signing it, the President issued a statement calling on Congress to increase the amount of money going to individuals AND to cut bloated government spending.  \r\n\r\nToday, the Democrats in the House put forward a bill to increase the size of the individual checks, BUT did not put forward any of the President's cut suggestions OR cuts to spending that they preferred.  \r\n\r\nThis is a typical Democrat compromise. We will give you increased spending, but we will not give you the cuts requested.  \r\n\r\nAccordingly, I could not support this increased spending, at this time, without legitimate cuts as requested by the President.  \r\n\r\nHopefully with vaccines being distributed, our businesses and our economy will be back in operation soon. If not, we will have to examine additional relief in the new year.  \r\n\r\nBackground  \r\n\r\nCongressman Griffith supported the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations (HR 6074), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (HR 6201), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (HR 748), and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (HR 266).  \r\n\r\nClick here for his statement on the Omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2021.  \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402399", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 12.21.20", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Christmas is a time of tradition, for families, communities, and throughout our society. For those of us who celebrate, like me, we each have our favorite customs about this season, whether attending a family gathering or town parade or just hearing a favorite Christmas carol.\r\nHow those traditions become things we return to year after year make for interesting stories on their own.\r\nOne story caught my eye recently on the Merriam-Webster dictionary website about the phrase tis the season, a phrase often said around this time of year originating in the Christmas carol Deck the Halls.*\r\nAs someone with Welsh ancestry, and as chairman of the Congressional Friends of Wales Caucus, I was glad to learn that this beloved carol had notable Welsh roots. According to Merriam-Webster, the carol's tune was apparently first recorded in a 1784 book entitled Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards. The book was written by Edward Jones, a harpist for the then-Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, and Jones dedicated his work to the Prince.\r\nA century later, the Welsh tune became linked to a Welsh lyricist. In 1884, a book called The Song Book: Words and Tunes from the Best Poets and Musicians reported that the lyrics to Deck the Halls were a translation by Thomas Oliphant of lyrics written by John Jones, a poet who also went by the Welsh name Talhaiarn.\r\nThose lyrics included tis the season, but they also include the syllables fa la la la la, and the carol's Welsh origins are important in understanding their inclusion.\r\nMerriam-Webster quotes composer John Rutter as saying the song was originally intended for performance by a group of singers and a harpist, the harp being Wales' national instrument. The singers would sing a verse, the harpist would improvise, the singers would move to the next verse, and so on. But harpists are not always available, nor do harps occupy such a prominent place in our culture as they do in that of Wales. As Rutter said, That only worked in Wales where they had harpists on every street corner. So fa la la la la would be sung to take the harp's place.\r\nBefore reading this article, I had not been aware of the link between Wales and this Christmas carol so widely known and sung in our culture. One of the remarkable aspects of the Christmas season is how traditions from so many parts of the world have been blended into the celebrations in our country. You may participate in several without thinking much about it  for example, if you put up a Christmas tree in your house, a custom brought to our country by settlers from Germany.\r\nThe variety of these traditions for one holiday speaks to the universal message of the Christmas season and also to the melting pot of American culture. We should be thankful that we live in a country where we can celebrate, or not celebrate, according to our beliefs.\r\nThis year, the coronavirus pandemic impedes our enjoyment of some of these customs. Community celebrations have been curtailed or cancelled, families are reconsidering whether to have as big a gathering as they might normally have, and the festivities that do take place have as a backdrop the pandemic that has inflicted so much suffering.\r\nMost of us have some aspect of the season we treasure that will not take place as usual this year. I enjoy participating in Christmas parades in the different towns of the Ninth District. After riding through a town saying Merry Christmas and seeing the bright eyes of children and hearing the warm wishes of the adults, I find it impossible to finish a parade without simply feeling good about the world.\r\nChristmas remains a time of hope, and the traditions we come back to each year are also the traditions we can look forward to. I invite you to share some of your own on my official Facebook page where this column is posted.\r\nIf you celebrate Christmas, however you do so this year, I hope that it will bring you comfort and joy, and I wish you a happy and healthy New Year.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n* https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-we-say-tis-the-season\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402401", "Griffith Statement on Omnibus Appropriations Legislation", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement on the omnibus appropriations legislation funding the Federal Government for the rest of fiscal year 2021:\r\nAs a supporter of more relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, I consistently urged congressional leadership to keep any relief package separate from any omnibus appropriations bill to fund the Federal Government. Omnibuses tend to be bloated, filled with unrelated provisions, and cobbled together in backrooms with little time for Members of Congress to read them, much less understand their provisions. They are a terrible way to exercise Congress' power of the purse.\r\nThe omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2021 is the longest bill I've been asked to vote on in Congress. It was split into two parts running nearly 5,600 pages. The first totaled roughly 500 pages and included funding for the military and border security, including the border wall. I read this part and found its spending to be largely reasonable, so I voted for it.\r\nThe second part containing the remaining 5,000 pages, while reportedly including some provisions I support, also reportedly featured far too many items that have no place in a spending bill. Members of Congress had only a few hours to read and analyze this overstuffed monstrosity. As I have pledged to the constituents of the Ninth District, I will not vote for a bill I have not read in its entirety. I voted no.\r\nI continue to believe Americans need help in the face of the pandemic, and I know most of my colleagues agree. Legislation that would provide help would likely pass Congress easily, and there is no good reason to tie it to the overall omnibus bill.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402400", "Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems to Receive $2,087,196", "2020-12-18", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems to Receive $2,087,196 \r\n  \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $2,087,196 to Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems headquartered in Saltville. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nCommunity health centers provide care to many in Southwest Virginia, and during the coronavirus outbreak they have a critical role to play. The distribution of $2,087,196 in funds to Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems will help promote accessible and quality health care for those who rely upon them. This will support the hard work and expert care provided by the professionals at our community health centers.  \r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402398", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 12.14.20", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Candy Apples and Toads\r\nAn analogy I like to use for the legislative process invokes candy apples and toads. Legislation rarely includes only things I like  the candy apples  or omits the things I really dislike  the toads. Considering whether to support a bill usually means weighing whether there are enough candy apples to cover up the bad taste of a few toads.\r\nEnd-of-year legislating usually provides plenty of opportunities to apply this test. As the year draws to a close, Congress once again finds itself closing in on a deadline to fund the Federal Government for the fiscal year that began on October 1.\r\nAs in previous years, we did not need to be in this situation. Federal law prescribes a budget process of individual appropriations bills that should go through regular order at the committee and floor level.\r\nJust following the rules could help us avoid the scramble to resolve everything with one bill that, even if read, Members of Congress rarely get to fully scrutinize before having to give it an up or down vote.\r\nBecause the omnibus bill funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year ending September 30 has not yet been agreed to by negotiators, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) continuing current funding for just one week.\r\nLike omnibuses, I generally do not find CRs to be a proper way to fund the government. But as with any other bill I vote on, I read this CR.\r\nIt included an extension for the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher program for two years. This program encourages the development of new drugs to treat rare pediatric diseases. The innovation promoted by this program can lead to new treatments that help improve and save the lives of children suffering from rare diseases.\r\nWhile skeptical of CRs, I support the extension of the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Vouchers, so I voted for this CR. In the best instances, legislation rarely includes everything I want to see or leaves out anything I do not support.\r\nIn this case, extending the program for two years was a candy apple that made voting for the one-week toad of a CR acceptable.\r\nThe Right Way to Legislate on Marijuana\r\nIn my last column, I discussed my opposition to H.R. 3884, a broad bill to legalize marijuana, expunge marijuana convictions, and provide taxpayer support for businesses and individuals associated with the marijuana industry.\r\nIt was a sweeping, partisan effort that made major changes at a time when the Congress should have other priorities. Despite my support for changes to marijuana law, it was the wrong bill at the wrong time.\r\nThe week afterward, the House voted on another bill related to marijuana, my Medical Marijuana Research Act. I believe this was the right approach to marijuana legislation.\r\nThe Medical Marijuana Research Act would ensure a sufficient supply of research-quality marijuana through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Drug Supply Program. It also authorizes more research so that we understand more specifically the medical benefits and side effects of marijuana on the human body. It would also direct the Food and Drug Administration to issue guidelines on the production of marijuana and encourage authorized manufacturers to produce marijuana for the researchers under the law.\r\nI was an original cosponsor of the bill in this Congress, and along with a bipartisan team had introduced it in previous years. Unlike H.R. 3884, it had support that spanned parties and also different views about marijuana legislation. Whether you want marijuana broadly prohibited, broadly legalized, or fall somewhere in between, you should want to see more data about its effects.\r\nBecause of its widespread support, the bill this year had moved through the House Energy and Commerce Committee without opposition and passed on the House floor in the same manner. Its consideration did not take up valuable legislative time in the same way as H.R. 3884.\r\nI was pleased to see the Medical Marijuana Research Act pass the House and hope it will advance into law. It represents the right way to legislate on marijuana  with prudence and based on data.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402397", "Griffith-Backed Medical Marijuana Research Act Passes House", "2020-12-09", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement after H.R. 3797, the Medical Marijuana Research Act, passed the House of Representatives:\r\nDecisions on marijuana policy must be guided by science and evidence, but federal law currently inhibits researchers from collecting the data that should guide policymakers. The Medical Marijuana Research Act improves Federal Government policies on marijuana research. It is a change I have long sought, and I am encouraged that it passed the House today.\r\nBackground\r\nH.R. 3797, the Medical Marijuana Research Act, would ensure a supply of marijuana for research purposes through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Drug Supply Program. It would also direct the Food and Drug Administration to issue guidelines on the production of marijuana and encourage authorized researchers and manufacturers to produce marijuana under the law.\r\nGriffith is an original cosponsor of H.R. 3797 in this Congress and has introduced the bill in previous Congresses. He also introduced H.R. 171, the Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marihuana Act.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402396", "Griffith Calls for Coronavirus Relief, Appropriations Legislation to be Kept Separate", "2020-12-08", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today issued the following statement:\r\nI believe the need exists for further economic relief in response to the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. I am ready to support a rational package to provide it.\r\nDuring a call with the Republican Conference, I urged our leadership to keep any coronavirus package separate from the anticipated omnibus measure funding the Federal Government. Of course, Speaker Pelosi may have other ideas.\r\nOnce again, congressional leadership finds itself expecting one enormous appropriations bill to address all the needs of the moment. The House should have followed regular order earlier and passed individual spending bills as the law demands.\r\nAt this point, at the very least, we ought to pass a standalone coronavirus relief measure. The price of aid for Americans suffering from the effects of COVID-19 should not be forcing Americans to accept an omnibus spending bill produced behind closed doors and loaded with unrelated extraneous provisions and excessive spending.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402395", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 12.7.20", "2020-12-07", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Setting an agenda means setting priorities. Based on the agenda of the U.S. House of Representatives, apparently marijuana is a priority of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).\r\nIt must be so, because on December 4 she used some of the little legislative time remaining in this Congress to bring up H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019. H.R. 3884 not only decriminalizes marijuana, but expunges previous marijuana convictions and permits taxpayer dollars to be used in support of the marijuana industry and convicted drug dealers.\r\nI doubt the constituents we represent in the House believe this measure to be such an urgent concern amid the current pandemic and economic downturn.\r\nTo be sure, I am supportive of changes to current federal drug laws. I support medicinal marijuana and further research into the effects of marijuana use, which the present laws and regulations make difficult to pursue. I have introduced legislation and worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to achieve these goals.\r\nBut with few legislative days remaining in this Congress, now is certainly not the time to focus on full-blown marijuana legalization. Further, H.R. 3884 goes way too far in the other direction from the restrictions currently in place.\r\nIn light of the fact that the bill was taken up so late in the Congress and with little chance of becoming law, H.R. 3884 appears to be more of a messaging bill than a serious attempt at legislating. But what kind of message is sent by its provisions?\r\nConsider how it handles marijuana convictions. Any prior conviction for non-violent federal marijuana offenses are expunged, and courts are required to conduct resentencing hearings on any federal convictions that included marijuana as part of the underlying offense apart from crimes of violence. For example, if an individual was convicted of embezzling from a bank but was in possession of marijuana when arrested, he or she could be eligible for resentencing.\r\nThis would create tremendous strain on the court system, occupying its time and resources with thousands of resentencing hearings rather than more important business.\r\nPrior marijuana convictions could also not be considered in denying any federal public benefit, granting security clearances, or in regard to immigration laws. So the individuals recently caught in Connecticut with a rental truck carrying an estimated $15 million worth of marijuana, as an example, could benefit from these provisions.\r\nNot only are these offenses expunged, but H.R. 3884 creates an Office of Cannabis Justice in the Department of Justice. The task of the new office would be to administer a grant program providing services to individuals convicted of marijuana-related offenses.\r\nChanging the laws should not mean directing taxpayer dollars to individuals convicted of breaking the law or require federal grants and loans for the marijuana industry.\r\nWe still do not have enough data on the effects of marijuana use. This has long been a concern of mine, and why I have introduced or cosponsored bills that would make research on possible effects easier.\r\nJust in September, a bill I cosponsored, the Medical Marijuana Research Act, advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. I had introduced versions of it in previous years and am glad to see it progress now. A floor vote is anticipated this month, a fact I appreciate but which makes little sense considering the vote on H.R. 3884.\r\nH.R. 3884 leapfrogs over more careful measures, disregarding public health consequences. It deschedules marijuana entirely from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act instead of moving it to another schedule that more appropriately assesses the risk of use.\r\nEarlier this year, the House rushed to ban flavored tobacco products and vaping after a spate of sicknesses. Most of the people who fell ill were vaping products that contained THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Yet H.R. 3884 takes no action to ban flavored marijuana vapes, or generally to prevent marijuana use among young people.\r\nH.R. 3884 would introduce more problems than it solves at a time when our attention is best directed to other topics.\r\nMy position on marijuana remains the same: legalization for medicinal purposes and loosened restrictions for research. I am ready to work with Democrats and Republicans to achieve these goals and more generally to rationalize federal policy at a time when more states are opting to legalize marijuana to various degrees. The path away from the perplexing current state of marijuana policy need not lead to the reckless policy regime created by H.R. 3884.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.  \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402394", "Ninth District Traveling Staff Office Hours for December", "2020-12-02", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Griffith's Ninth DistrictSTAFFwill be available at the following locations during the month ofDecember. Traveling office hours follow the status of local government offices, which vary across the 22 counties and nine independent cities of the Ninth District. As local governments offices reopen, office hours will be resumed.\r\nIn the event of inclement weather (heavy snow, sleet, icy rain, etc.), traveling office hours may be rescheduled to avoid putting constituents at risk.If a County's or City's schools are closed, then its office hours will be closed as well. Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions or to schedule an appointment time in the event of office hour closure.\r\nDecember 8, 2020\r\nCraig County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCraig County Administration Bldg.  \r\n108 Court Street  \r\nNew Castle, VA 24127\r\nAlleghany County: 12:00 pm  1:30 pm\r\nClifton Forge Library  \r\nConference Room  \r\n535 Church Street  \r\nClifton Forge, VA 24422\r\nDecember 9, 2020\r\nScott County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCommunity Services Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\n190 Beech Street  \r\nGate City, VA 24251\r\nLee County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nLee County Sheriff's Office  \r\nConference Room  \r\n33640 Main Street  Suite U101  \r\nJonesville, VA 24263\r\nWise County: 3:15 pm  4:45 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse  \r\n3rd Floor Room 303  \r\n322 Wood Ave. E  \r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\nDecember 10, 2020\r\nGiles County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Pearisburg Offices  \r\n112 Tazewell Street  \r\nPearisburg, VA 24134\r\nDecember 15, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Richlands): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nTown of Richlands Offices  \r\n200 Washington Square  \r\nRichlands, VA 24641\r\nBuchanan County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nTown of Grundy Offices  \r\n1185 Plaza Dr.  \r\nGrundy, VA 24614\r\nDecember 16, 2020\r\nCarroll County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCarroll County Administration Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\n605  1 Pine Street  \r\nHillsville, VA 24343\r\nGalax: 11:30 am  1:00 pm\r\nMunicipal Building  \r\nConference Room  \r\n111 E. Grayson Street  \r\nGalax, VA 24333\r\nGrayson County: 2:30pm  4:00pm\r\nGrayson County Administration Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\nSuite 206  \r\n129 Davis Street  \r\nIndependence, VA 24348\r\nDecember 17, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Tazewell): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nAmerican Legion Building  \r\n226 Central Avenue  \r\nTazewell, VA 24651\r\nRussell County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nCommunity Center  \r\n72 Gibson Street  \r\nLebanon, VA 24266\r\nDecember 18, 2020\r\nFloyd County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Floyd Offices  \r\n134 Wilson Street SE  \r\nFloyd, VA 24091\r\nPatrick County: 11:30 am  1:00 pm\r\nPatrick County Administration Building  \r\nConference Room  \r\n106 Rucker Street  \r\nStuart, VA 24171\r\nMartinsville: 2:00 pm  3:30 pm\r\nCity of Martinsville Municipal Building  \r\nConference Room #32, Lower Level  \r\n55 W. Church Street  \r\nMartinsville, VA 24112\r\nDecember 22, 2020\r\nNorton: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCity Council Chambers  \r\n618 Virginia Avenue NW  \r\nNorton, VA 24273\r\nWise County: 11:00 am  12:30 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse  \r\n3rd Floor Room 303  \r\n322 Wood Avenue E  \r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\nDickenson County: 2:30 pm  4:30 pm\r\nDickenson Center for Education & Research  \r\n818 Happy Valley Drive  \r\nClintwood, VA 24228\r\n** Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402392", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 11.20.20", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "On Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season that follows, we count our blessings. As we do so, it is also important to remember those who may be less fortunate, both in our neighborhoods and around the world.\r\nAt a recent meeting of a bipartisan, nondenominational prayer breakfast that convenes when the House of Representatives is in session, David Beasley gave the featured remarks. Formerly a governor of South Carolina, he now serves as executive director of the World Food Programme fighting hunger around the globe. This agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9 in recognition of its work to feed people in 88 countries.\r\nThe Nobel Prize has brought attention to the fight against hunger at a critical time. The coronavirus pandemic added a layer of difficulty to feeding the world atop the food insecurities that already existed.\r\nBefore the pandemic, in 2019, almost 135 million people suffered from acute hunger. The World Food Programme estimates that the number could reach 270 million by the end of this year.\r\nReports from the World Food Programme have noted how economic shutdowns provoked by the pandemic worsen poverty and could cause more people to die than COVID-19 itself. World Bank projections indicate that up to 150 million additional people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021.\r\nShutdowns can put people out of work and interrupt the supply chains that bring people the nutrition they need. Shutting down schools also denies children access to school meals  a report in April noted that 370 million children were thus deprived at the time. Certain countries in Africa and the Middle East are most susceptible to these tragic outcomes.\r\nThe United States is fortunate not to face the dire extremes of poverty and hunger that too many in other countries confront every day. Ours is a land of plenty, even if we are not immune to hardships. This is a fact that the early European settlers of the eastern United States, including the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony, would recognize.\r\nLast year was the 400th anniversary of the Thanksgiving celebration at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia.\r\nThis year marks the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, but next year is the 400th anniversary of the Thanksgiving of the Pilgrims. After arriving in present-day Massachusetts on November 9, 1620, they had to endure a grim winter of cold, starvation, and disease. Yet they also met members of the local Wampanoag tribe who taught them how to plant corn and where to find the best hunting and fishing spots.\r\nThe Thanksgiving celebrated by Plymouth Colony in 1621 came out of both the harshness of that first winter and the bounty and peace of the next year.\r\nWhen Thanksgiving was first instituted as a regular national holiday in 1863, the country was locked in a bitter civil war. Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation in gratitude for the country's blessings even as the war's toll mounted with no end in sight.\r\nWe would do well today to remember these examples. They took place amid widespread hardship and tragedy, yet they helped define the way we observe Thanksgiving.\r\nThanksgiving this year can best be celebrated by remembering our blessings and remembering those who may not seem so blessed. This may take the form of contributing to the alleviation of hunger abroad, as the World Food Programme does, or to the reduction of hunger and want closer to home.\r\nAround Virginia's Ninth District, I have been honored to meet and know many who make helping others the cause of their lives. From food banks to charitable health clinics, the people who work or volunteer at these sites and contribute to their missions are performing good works for our families, friends, and neighbors, and they continue their labors amid the pandemic. They are among the many blessings I am grateful for this Thanksgiving.\r\nAs a Member of Congress, I cannot solicit donations for specific groups in this official newsletter, but I trust that the charitable organizations and causes in your community are not hard to find.\r\nI wish you and your family a safe, peaceful, and blessed Thanksgiving.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402393", "Griffith Statement on H.R. 8294", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Statement on H.R. 8294 \r\n  \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 8294:\r\nI believe apprenticeships provide valuable education opportunities. I cannot support H.R. 8294 or its Republican alternative, however, because they spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money during a time of significant emergency spending. Congress has already passed trillions of dollars in response to the coronavirus, and more relief bills responding to this emergency are likely yet to come. While the pandemic continues, we should not be adding to the country's substantial debt burden by voting for higher spending for new or expanded programs.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402391", "Griffith Bill to Prevent Opioid Abuse Passes House", "2020-11-17", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 4812, the Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act, introduced by Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA). Griffith issued the following statement:\r\nThe opioid crisis grew in part due to the abuse of opioids legally manufactured and sold. My bill, the Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act, would reform Drug Enforcement Agency regulations to close legal loopholes that could enable opioid abuse. I am proud to sponsor this small but important fix that will assist in fighting the opioid epidemic that has hurt too many.\r\nFurther Information\r\nThe Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act amends the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit the transfer of any Drug Enforcement Agency registration to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances without written consent from the agency.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402390", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 11.12.20", "2020-11-12", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The process for electing a president of the United States continues to play out according to the Constitution. It includes several steps, none of which involve media organizations calling the race or projecting winners.\r\nInstead, states count the votes for the purposes of choosing electors to vote in the Electoral College, and the Electoral College's tally must be certified by Congress. In many presidential election years, these actions are viewed as mere formalities, but in some close races throughout our history, they have been contested well after the ballots of individual voters were cast.\r\nThe act you are likely most familiar with is going to the polls on Election Day to vote for president. This process is primarily under the control of the states, so the 50 states can differ on which candidates are on the ballot, absentee and mail-in voting policies, early voting, and so on. As we have seen this year, states also differ in how quickly they count the votes.\r\nThe Constitution and federal laws, however, do guarantee fundamental protections to voters.\r\nFor example, the Fourteenth Amendment holds that a state cannot deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This clause was decisive in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a statewide manual recount in Florida ordered by the state Supreme Court would violate the Fourteenth Amendment because counties had different standards for the recount, denying equal protection for voters within the state.\r\nThat case was decided by the Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, after more than a month of recounts and litigation between the campaigns of Al Gore and George W. Bush. This example shows that candidates have the right to pursue legal remedies well after the polls close.\r\nThe vote count in the states decides their slate of electors for the Electoral College. The Constitution allows state legislatures to decide on their electors however they want, but all states except two award every one of their electors to the winner of the state's popular vote. Maine and Nebraska allocate electors based on winners in their congressional districts.\r\nThe electors meet in their states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which falls on December 14 this year. They vote by ballot, and the results are sent to Washington for counting.\r\nFederal law sets January 6 as the day for the House of Representatives and the Senate to meet in joint session to count the Electoral College vote. The vice president, acting in his or her capacity as president of the Senate, presides. He or she opens the certificates from each state in alphabetical order and gives them to the four tellers, two appointed from each chamber, to be announced. The final results are announced by the vice president.\r\nDuring the count, Members of Congress can challenge votes, and they have. I was in the House chamber on January 6, 2017 when several House Democrats frequently interrupted the count by challenging the results of multiple states. Their protests failed because the law requires challenges to be submitted in writing with endorsements from at least one representative and one senator, and no senators had joined their protests.\r\nIn 2005, the joint session certifying President Bush's reelection had to recess because a challenge to his victory in Ohio did have support in both chambers. As a result, the House and the Senate had to separately debate and vote on the challenge. Both rejected it.\r\nAs you can see, the standard procedure for electing a president takes a few months, and while it can be a formality, the system allows for contention and legal challenges.\r\nThis does not even take into account extraordinary circumstances, such as those found in the 1876 election during the Reconstruction era. That year, the results in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were disputed, while an elector in Oregon was disqualified and replaced. The deadlock led Congress to appoint a commission to decide the matter; it awarded the disputed votes and thus the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes only days before the inauguration was to take place.\r\nIn the presidential election process, the length of time to declare a winner is not as important as ensuring that all the steps are conducted fairly and with integrity according to our Constitution and laws.\r\nThat is the process we are wading through and waiting for now. And that's why it's not over.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402379", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 11.6.20", "2020-11-06", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "November 11 is Veterans Day. Each year, Americans take this day to honor the men and women who have served in defense of our liberties in the United States Armed Forces.\r\nIt began as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Now veterans of all conflicts in which our country has been engaged are recognized on November 11. Although World War I was not, as was said at the time, the war to end all wars, the United States is still blessed with individuals who will step forward when our country calls.\r\nVeterans Day is an appropriate occasion to reflect on what our country called these men and women to do. It is also essential that the day be used to consider the tremendous debt we owe them.\r\nThis must be true even during the coronavirus pandemic. This year, our tributes to the veterans who fought for us may look different than those of past years. Especially for those veterans who are elderly or have underlying health conditions, sometimes acquired from their time in the service, precautions should be taken when celebrating them. Nevertheless, Americans who served their country deserve our tributes in this difficult time.\r\nPresident Calvin Coolidge said, A country which is worth defending takes care of its defenders. My office carries out this charge by offering assistance to veterans requiring specific services from the Federal Government.\r\nWhen vets encounter difficulties accessing their benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), caseworkers in my office can help and try to cut through the red tape and intercede.\r\nIn addition to VA casework, I support legislation in Congress to improve the VA's health care services. Improving the VA's offerings has been an area of bipartisan focus and accomplishment.\r\nAnother constituent service my office can provide is the replacement of service medals. They represent the commitment and sacrifice a veteran made for his or her country, but they are not immune to being lost or misplaced. For example, I recently presented a new set of medals to the family of the late World War II veteran Luther Owens. The originals, including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, had been lost in a house fire.\r\nOn some occasions, veterans receive their medals long after they served. They may have been awarded but never delivered, or misplaced paperwork may have halted the process for awarding the medals.\r\nEarly in my tenure as a Member of Congress, I was honored to participate in a medal presentation to Corporal James C. Rasnake of Abingdon, who served during the Korean War. On September 15, 1950, his platoon came under heavy fire, and Sergeant Dale Larsen was seriously wounded. Corporal Rasnake killed an enemy gunman about to shoot Sergeant Larsen again, then carried Sergeant Larsen on his back to a safer location. He eventually crafted a makeshift stretcher using two rifles and carried Sergeant Larsen about a mile to receive aid.\r\nOver sixty years after this feat of bravery, my office helped track down missing paperwork to complete the process of recognizing Corporal Rasnake. He received the Bronze Star with a V device for valor. When it was finally time to present the award, Sergeant Larsen, the man whose life he saved, handed it to him.\r\nMy plans for Veterans Day this year will take me to Martinsville to honor two World War II veterans, Houston William Smith and Richard Stine.\r\nI urge you on Veterans Day to thank any veterans in your life, whether family members, friends, or neighbors. In this time of COVID-19, if you cannot do this is person, give them a call or contact them via email or social media. These simple gestures are the least we can do to honor the heroes who risked their lives for our freedom.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402389", "Ninth District Traveling Staff Office Hours for November", "2020-11-05", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Griffith's Ninth DistrictSTAFFwill be available at the following locations during the month ofNovember. Traveling office hours follow the status of local government offices, which vary across the 22 counties and nine independent cities of the Ninth District. As local governments offices reopen, office hours will be resumed. Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.\r\n\r\nNovember 10, 2020\r\nCraig County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCraig County Administration Bldg. \r\n108 Court Street\r\nNew Castle, VA 24127\r\n\r\nCovington: 12:00 pm  1:30 pm\r\nCity of Covington\r\nConference Room\r\n333 W. Locust Street\r\nCovington, VA 24426\r\n\r\nSalem: 3:00 pm  4:30 pm\r\nCity of Salem Offices\r\n114 N. Broad Street\r\nSalem, VA 24153\r\n\r\nNovember 12, 2020\r\nGiles County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Pearisburg Offices\r\n112 Tazewell Street\r\nPearisburg, VA 24134\r\n\r\nWythe County: 1:30 pm  3:00 pm\r\nWythe County Sheriff's Office\r\nConference Room\r\n245 South 4th Street\r\nWytheville, VA 24382\r\n\r\nPulaski County: 2:30 pm  4:00pm \r\nPulaski County Library\r\n60 3rd Street NW\r\nPulaski, VA 24301\r\n\r\nNovember 16, 2020\r\nScott County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCommunity Services Building\r\nBoard of Supervisors Room\r\n190 Beech Street\r\nGate City, VA 24251\r\n\r\nLee County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nLee County Sheriff's Office\r\nConference Room\r\n33640 Main Street  Suite U101\r\nJonesville, VA 24263\r\n\r\nWise County: 3:15 pm  4:45 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse\r\n3rd Floor Room 303\r\n322 Wood Ave. E\r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\n\r\nNovember 17, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Richlands): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nTown of Richlands Offices\r\n200 Washington Square\r\nRichlands, VA 24641\r\n\r\nBuchanan County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nTown of Grundy Offices\r\n1185 Plaza Dr. \r\nGrundy, VA 24614\r\n\r\nNovember 18, 2020\r\nCarroll County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCarroll County Administration Building\r\nBoard of Supervisors Room \r\n605  1 Pine Street\r\nHillsville, VA 24343\r\n\r\nGalax: 11:30 am  1:00 pm\r\nMunicipal Building \r\nConference Room\r\n111 E. Grayson Street\r\nGalax, VA 24333\r\n\r\nGrayson County: 2:30pm  4:00pm\r\nGrayson County Administration Building\r\nBoard of Supervisors Room \r\nSuite 206\r\n129 Davis Street\r\nIndependence, VA 24348\r\n\r\nNovember 19, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Tazewell): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nAmerican Legion Building\r\n226 Central Avenue\r\nTazewell, VA 24651\r\n\r\nRussell County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nSWVA Tech Center \r\n141 Highland Drive \r\nLebanon, VA 24266\r\n\r\nNovember 23, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Bluefield): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nTown of Bluefield  Council Chambers\r\n112 Huffard Drive\r\nBluefield, VA 24605\r\n\r\nNovember 24, 2020\r\nNorton: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCity Council Chambers\r\n618 Virginia Avenue NW\r\nNorton, VA 24273\r\n\r\nWise County: 11:00 am  12:30 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse\r\n3rd Floor Room 303\r\n322 Wood Avenue E\r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\n\r\nDickenson County: 2:30 pm  4:30 pm\r\nDickenson Center for Education & Research\r\n818 Happy Valley Drive\r\nClintwood, VA 24228\r\n\r\nNovember 30, 2020\r\nFloyd County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Floyd Offices\r\n134 Wilson Street SE\r\nFloyd, VA 24091\r\n\r\nPatrick County: 11:30 am  1:00 pm \r\nPatrick County Administration Building\r\nConference Room\r\n106 Rucker Street\r\nStuart, VA 24171\r\n\r\n** Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402386", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $50,000 for Town Hall Furnishings and Office Equipment in the Town of Rich Creek", "2020-11-02", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $50,000 for Town Hall Furnishings and Office Equipment in the Town of Rich Creek \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Monday,\r\n      November 2, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced a $50,000 grant to the Town of Rich Creek for the purchase of office equipment and furnishings for the new town hall. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nTown halls provide community residents with many important resources. Today's award of $50,000 from USDA Rural Development will allow The Town of Rich Creek to create an efficient operating space at their new town hall location, directly benefitting employees and the residents they serve.\r\nFurther Information:\r\nThe Town of Rich Creek will receive a $50,000 Economic Impact Initiative Grant to purchase office equipment and furnishings. The town hall is in the process of relocating from its current facility, an old school building, to a new space in the center of town.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402387", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $16,000 for a Dump Truck and Pipeline Inspection Equipment in the Town of Wise", "2020-11-02", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $16,000 for a Dump Truck and Pipeline Inspection Equipment in the Town of Wise \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Monday,\r\n      November 2, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced a $16,000 grant to the Town of Wise for the purchase of a dump truck and a waterproof pipeline inspection camera system. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nToday's award of $16,000 from USDA Rural Development will allow the Town of Wise to replace two vital resources that have been in use for more than two decades. These funds will allow the community to operate more efficiently and effectively.\r\nFurther Information:\r\nThe Town of Wise will receive a $16,000 Economic Impact Initiative Grant to purchase a dump truck and a pipeline inspection camera system.  \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402388", "$207,982 Awarded for Housing Assistance to Low-Income Residents in Three Southwest Virginia Counties", "2020-11-02", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "$207,982 Awarded for Housing Assistance to Low-Income Residents in Three Southwest Virginia Counties \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Monday,\r\n      November 2, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $207,982 to public housing agencies in three Southwest Virginia counties to support housing assistance for low-income residents. The funding was awarded through the CARES Act Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program Housing Assistance Payments (HAP). Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nThe coronavirus outbreak has inflicted economic hardship on many. HUD's award of $207,982 for housing assistance in these counties will bring relief to individuals and families receiving housing assistance who are having greater difficulty paying their bills.\r\nGriffith supported the CARES Act. Public housing agencies receiving funds include:\r\nWytheville Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Wytheville - $13,068\r\nWise County Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Coeburn - $132,242\r\nLee County Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Jonesville - $62,672\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402378", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 10.30.20", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The nineteenth century British statesman Lord Palmerston once defended his foreign policy by declaring, We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.\r\nHis words should be heeded today. When the policies of the past no longer align with the realities of today, they must be reevaluated.\r\nCertainly, the American relationship with the People's Republic of China demands a reevaluation.\r\nFor decades, American leaders promoted closer ties with China and avoided censure of its Communist rulers. This approach was guided by the belief that China's incorporation into global institutions and markets would encourage the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to act more responsibly and in line with our values.\r\nThis approach may have seemed reasonable when it was first adopted, but experience has discredited it.\r\nOver four decades of a normalized relationship have not resulted in a freer, more open China. On the contrary, the CCP routinely exploits its relationships with Western countries to enrich itself and promote its own power while still engaging in abhorrent human rights practices.\r\nLate last year, I heard testimony in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health about our worrisome dependence on China for pharmaceutical products. As of August 2019, a significant percentage of active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers supplying the U.S. market were based in China.\r\nFor particular drugs, the percentage made in China can be vastly higher. For example, the country provides nearly 80 percent of the world's supply of the blood thinner heparin. It developed a stranglehold on the world's supply of penicillin after a sustained effort to put manufacturers of the antibiotic in other countries out of business.\r\nA subsequent, separate hearing of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations focused on some of the problems that come with this dependence on China for pharmaceutical products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducts inspections of foreign sites that manufacture drugs to be exported here. One story was brought to my attention of an inspector and her translator at a northeastern China site who were locked in a conference room for over an hour. This imprisonment prevented the inspection from taking place.\r\nWhen eventually inspected, the plant was found to be skipping tests of its products and ingredients and omitting cleaning procedures. The incident was an extreme but indicative example of concerns about poor quality, corruption, and lack of transparency in the parts of the drug supply chain under Chinese control.\r\nThe pharmaceutical industry is far from the only one that depends too much on China. Critical minerals are essential to many advanced technologies, including those important to national defense. China dominates the supply of these minerals and has not been afraid to use them as leverage in the past; in 2010, after an incident at sea between the two countries, China limited its export of rare earth elements to Japan.\r\nThe CCP's economic aggression is accompanied by repression and human rights abuses.\r\nWhen the United Kingdom ceded Hong Kong to China in 1997, China committed to upholding the policy of one country, two systems, exercising sovereignty over the territory but respecting the legal and free market institutions and norms it had developed.\r\nBut over the past year and a half in particular, the CCP has sought to strip away the liberties enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. A national security law enacted on June 30 enables Beijing to silence dissent and empower its security agencies in Hong Kong. The law has chilled what had recently been a vocal protest movement for freedom.\r\nThe CCP has also oppressed minorities such as the Uyghurs of China's western regions. Its tools of tyranny include internment camps, forced sterilization, and mass surveillance. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has rightfully called this campaign the stain of the century.\r\nIt is no longer reasonable to think that China's Communist rulers will adopt our values. Accommodating them has only weakened our standing in the world.\r\nOur national interests demand a different approach, one that protects our economic interests, diversifies our supply chains or brings them back to the United States, and calls out CCP violations of international agreements and human rights.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402383", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $740,000 for Public Service Vehicles in Ninth District Communities", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $740,000 for Public Service Vehicles in Ninth District Communities \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 28, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced $740,000 in loans and grants to communities in Virginia's Ninth Congressional District for public service vehicles. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nPurchasing and equipping modern vehicles for public services can place a strain on budgets in rural communities. Today's awards of $740,000 to the City of Norton and the Town of Clintwood from USDA Rural Development will assist in critical fire and sanitation services, services upon which rural residents rely.\r\nRecipients include:\r\nTown of Clintwood, which will receive a $90,000 loan and $50,000 grant to purchase a sanitation vehicle;\r\nCity of Norton, which will receive a $600,000 loan to purchase a fire truck.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402384", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $164,400 for a Public Service Vehicle in the Town of Hillsville", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $164,400 for a Public Service Vehicle in the Town of Hillsville \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 28, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced $164,400 in loans and grants to the Town of Hillsville for the purchase of a sanitation vehicle. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nPurchasing and equipping modern vehicles for public services can place a strain on budgets in rural communities. Today's award of $164,400 from USDA Rural Development will assist in public sanitation services upon which rural residents rely.\r\nFurther Information:\r\nTown of Hillsville, which will receive a $114,400 loan and $50,000 grant to purchase a sanitation vehicle.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402385", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $35,000 for a Public Service Vehicle in the Town of Pembroke", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Award of $35,000 for a Public Service Vehicle in the Town of Pembroke \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 28, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced $35,000 in loans and grants to the Town of Pembroke for the purchase of a law enforcement vehicle. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nPurchasing and equipping modern vehicles for public services can place a strain on budgets in rural communities. Today's award of $35,000 from USDA Rural Development will assist in law enforcement services upon which rural residents rely.\r\nFurther Information\r\nTown of Pembroke, which will receive a $22,800 loan and $12,200 grant to purchase a law enforcement vehicle.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402381", "Griffith Applauds USDA Rural Development Award of $18,730,000 to the Washington County Service Authority for Water Infrastructure", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Rural Development Award of $18,730,000 to the Washington County Service Authority for Water Infrastructure \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      October 27, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kelly Lungren\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today awarded a loan of $18,730,000 to the Washington County Service Authority for improvements to water storage and distribution systems. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nWater infrastructure is important to the health, quality of life, and economic potential of all communities. This USDA Rural Development loan of $18,730,000 will support major upgrades to Washington County water systems, correcting health hazards such as lead and rust. This loan will also improve water pressure and construct 145 fire hydrants. This is a significant investment in Washington County's infrastructure.\r\nFurther Information\r\nUSDA Rural Development funding will support:\r\n- installation of approximately 304,000 linear feet of water line;\r\n- 145 fire hydrants; \r\n- 63 water meter relocations;\r\n- demolition of two water storage tanks; and\r\n- construction of a 1.5 million-gallon tank with all related site work, including fencing.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402380", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 10.23.20", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News stories during an election season often focus on the ups and downs of opinion polling. As a decision nears, polls become central to reporting and analysis, and often affect the enthusiasm of the various candidates' supporters and opponents.\r\nIn a republic based on democratic principles, opinion polls occupy a meaningful role in discerning public sentiment. It would be a mistake, however, to let them occupy a preeminent role.\r\nAdmittedly, they have come a long way from their predecessors, the straw polls. These surveys supposedly got their name from the farming method of telling which way the wind blew by throwing a handful of straw into the air.\r\nThe first published presidential straw poll in the United States appeared in the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian ahead of the 1824 election. It found that the residents of Newark and Wilmington, Delaware it had surveyed preferred Andrew Jackson over John Quincy Adams; Jackson did win the popular vote that year, but Adams became president when no candidate earned a majority in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives decided the election.\r\nOver the succeeding decades, polling methods became more sophisticated, but there were still notable missed predictions.\r\nAmong the most famous occurred in 1936. The magazine Literary Digest had conducted several presidential election polls by that year and had previously predicted the result correctly. It mailed out postcards asking recipients to respond with their preference for the Democrat incumbent, President Franklin Roosevelt, or his Republican challenger, Kansas Governor Alf Landon.\r\nBased on the survey results, Literary Digest predicted a victory for Landon with 57 percent of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes. That November, Roosevelt won in a landslide with 60.8 percent of the popular vote and 523 electoral votes. Landon carried 36.5 percent of the popular vote and a mere eight electoral votes from two states, Maine and Vermont.\r\nNotably, the polling method of newcomer George Gallup accurately predicted a Roosevelt win. The Gallup poll surveys Americans to this day; Literary Digest did not survive the decade.\r\nAnother famous mismatch between poll predictions and election results occurred in 1948. Incumbent Democrat President Harry S. Truman, who had succeeded Roosevelt upon his death in 1945, was seen as a sure underdog to Republican New York Governor Thomas Dewey. Most polls, including Gallup, had Dewey ahead in the race, but Truman won on Election Day.\r\nA famous photograph shows Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune with the erroneous headline Dewey Defeats Truman. The newspaper's headline was in line with its polling of the race. Afterward, the paper recognized that its poll results were off because it had surveyed a disproportionately Republican sample; the poll was conducted by telephone, and Republicans at the time tended to be wealthier and were more likely to have a telephone.\r\nThese examples should not be cited to dismiss opinion polling out of hand. Pollsters have been right, too, as in the victories of Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1972. They do illustrate the importance of not investing excessive meaning in opinion polls.\r\nHonest polling requires calculation about sampling to properly represent the population, and sometimes parts of the population are difficult to reach. It needs careful wording to not favor outcomes. Even when these criteria are met, the results come with a margin of error that could be meaningful on closely divided questions.\r\nThe extraordinary events of this year will also affect the accuracy of polls. The presidential election this year includes an unprecedented amount of early voting, as many states have lengthened the period before Election Day to cast ballots. Polling closer to the election has to account for the fact that more people who answered may have already voted.\r\nMy advice would be to read the results of opinion polls but not to let them crowd out other news and information. Placing too much attention on them may lead a person to miss other signals that indicate what is taking place in our country.\r\nLastly, no matter who you intend to vote for, do not let polling data dissuade you from casting your vote.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402377", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 10.16.20", "2020-10-16", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The process of advice and consent for a new Supreme Court Justice is currently under way in the United States Senate.\r\nWhile I play no part in this constitutional process as a U.S. Representative, I am impressed by the legal ability of President Trump's nominee to the seat, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.\r\nSenate Democrats, however, have chosen to wage a pre-emptive war on Judge Barrett. They are either trying to scare her away from any potential adverse ruling on Obamacare or they are attempting to scare the American public that her confirmation will eliminate health care in the United States.\r\nThey used their time at the hearing to write horror stories about what would happen to Americans if Obamacare was struck down as unconstitutional, ignoring the great harm that the law has inflicted on many, including people I represent.\r\nJudge Barrett has rightly declined to engage with her inquisitors on Obamacare, noting that it would be inappropriate to comment on a case she may have to decide. In this unwillingness to pre-judge a case, she follows the precedent of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who at her own confirmation hearing in 1993 said: A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.\r\nShe understands her role and the role of the courts more generally. They are not supposed to make laws but to interpret the laws written by Congress. This is the basic separation of powers devised by the Constitution's framers and taught in civics classes. In fact, I just recently went over this concept with my son as he learns about it in school.\r\nHowever, Senate Democrats need to go back to class. They hide behind the judicial robes of the Supreme Court's justices instead of using the power given to them by the Constitution to fix a law, like Obamacare, that desperately needs fixing.\r\nIf you listen to Senate Democrats, you would think Congress lacks the power to fix an existing law or pass a new one. The Senate may lack the will, but it doesn't lack the power.  \r\n\r\nMy frustrations with Obamacare have been articulated in this column frequently, so you are likely familiar with them. You may be familiar with them, too, because they are your frustrations.\r\nI have heard from too many Ninth District constituents who were forced off their insurance plans, charged ever-increasing premiums, or deprived of health care choices because of Obamacare's unworkable and ill-conceived provisions. Residents of the Ninth District's 22 counties and seven independent cities have only one health insurer from which they can purchase coverage.\r\n Just since June of this year, my office has received at least 54 separate complaints from constituents about Obamacare.\r\nI am ready to do my job. No matter how the Supreme Court rules on Obamacare's constitutionality, Congress can act right now to improve health care in this country. I ask congressional Democrats to focus on working with Republicans to legislate rather than bullying Judge Barrett.\r\nIn the House Energy and Commerce Committee, we have advanced many health care bills on a bipartisan basis only to see them upended by Speaker Pelosi.\r\nTake prescription drug reform. We unanimously passed a series of bills at the committee level tackling this subject, only to see the Speaker put them together with measures related to Obamacare that would not pass the Senate or be signed by President Trump. Speaker Pelosi did this again when she pushed H.R. 3, which tossed aside our bipartisan committee work on prescription drugs in favor of a heavy-handed and possibly unconstitutional approach.\r\nRepublicans and Democrats also widely agree on protecting Americans with pre-existing health conditions. Republicans have introduced bills on this subject, yet Democrats would have you believe that the only possibly way to protect these individuals is to keep Obamacare in full.\r\nI do not know how Judge Barrett will rule on Obamacare when she is confirmed to the Supreme Court. I believe she is a fair-minded jurist who would rule on the merits of the case and the law, not any agenda of her own. But as a Supreme Court justice, she should not do Congress' job, which is to write laws. Nor should any justice be deluded into thinking Congress does not have the power to write laws. That is the job I have, and I hope congressional Democrats will join me in performing it.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402376", "Griffith Demands Investigation by House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Into Social Media Censorship", "2020-10-15", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Demands Investigation by House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Into Social Media Censorship \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Thursday,\r\n      October 15, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement calling for an investigation of social media censorship following the suppression of the House Judiciary Committee Republican Twitter account:\r\nThe suppression of an official House of Representatives social media account for sharing a news story constitutes an alarming and shocking act of censorship. Millions of Americans use social media. How can they expect to be treated fairly when their elected representatives are silenced in such an arbitrary and heavy-handed manner?\r\nAs a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I believe this issue deserves our intense scrutiny. I call on the subcommittee to launch an investigation of social media giants such as Twitter immediately.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402371", "Griffith Applauds $1,500,000 Award to Henry County for Site Improvements at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $1,500,000 Award to Henry County for Site Improvements at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 14, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $1,500,000 to Henry County for natural gas service to the Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nThe Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre is an important part of Henry County's economic development strategy. ARC's grant of $1.5 million to connect the site to natural gas service will make it more attractive to manufacturing operations, which will create jobs and support the local economy. I am excited by this big step forward.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402372", "Griffith Applauds $1,494,000 Award to the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Area Consortium Board to Address Substance Abuse", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $1,494,000 Award to the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Area Consortium Board to Address Substance Abuse \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $1,494,000 to the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Area Consortium Board for the Pathways to a Strong and Healthy Region project addressing substance abuse in the workforce. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nSubstance abuse can throw a person's life off track, including affecting his or her ability to hold a job. It can also present a problem for employers looking to hire. The Pathways to a Strong and Healthy Region project will coordinate efforts in the health care and economic development sectors to welcome those recovering from substance use disorders back into the workforce. ARC's award of $1,494,000 will make a tremendous impact on this worthy and important project.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402373", "Griffith Applauds $793,500 Award to the Health Wagon for Substance Use Treatment Services", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $793,500 Award to the Health Wagon for Substance Use Treatment Services \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $793,500 to the Health Wagon for the Southwest Virginia Medication-Assisted Treatment Services project. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nSubstance abuse is tragically too common in our region. Countering it requires access to treatment and health services. The Health Wagon has been a critical health resource for many in Southwest Virginia, and the $793,500 in ARC support for the Southwest Virginia Medication-Assisted Treatment Services project will help it meet this need.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402374", "Griffith Applauds $50,000 Award to LENOWISCO for Broadband Study", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $50,000 Award to LENOWISCO for Broadband Study \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 14, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $50,000 to the LENOWISCO Planning District for the Tri-State Broadband Infrastructure Feasibility Study. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nLack of access to broadband can inhibit economic opportunity and job creation. ARC's award of $50,000 to LENOWISCO will contribute to closing the digital divide.\r\nBackground\r\nThe Tri-State Broadband Infrastructure Feasibility Study will identify the necessary steps to construct a fiber broadband network that could reach every industrial park and commercial site within a thirteen-county region of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402375", "Griffith Applauds $32,940 Award to the New River Valley Regional Commission for New River Water Trail Expansion", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $32,940 Award to the New River Valley Regional Commission for New River Water Trail Expansion \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Wednesday,\r\n      October 14, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $32,940 to the New River Valley Regional Commission for the New River Water Trail Expansion project. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nOur region's natural scenery draws visitors while offering recreation to residents, supporting economic growth. ARC's award of $32,940 will advance the work of the New River Water Trail Expansion project to make local natural assets into destinations for tourists and locals seeking recreation activities.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402370", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 10.12.20", "2020-10-12", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In presidential election years, we debate the issues our country faces. Increasingly, the way our country chooses the president has become an issue up for debate.\r\nThe Electoral College was the mechanism decided upon in the Constitution to elect the chief executive. It gives each state a vote for president and vice president equal to its combined number of U.S. senators and representatives (as well as three votes to the District of Columbia granted by the 23rd Amendment).\r\nGenerally, the presidential ticket that wins the statewide popular vote receives the entirety of a state's electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska allocate votes to candidates who win individual congressional districts.\r\nOn a few occasions, a presidential ticket has lost the nationwide popular vote and still won in the Electoral College and thus the election. As a result, some argue that the Electoral College should be tossed aside.\r\nI believe the reasons the framers created the Electoral College are still sound and call for it to be maintained.\r\nOne of the divides the young United States confronted was between large and small states, and bridging it was a persistent theme of the Constitutional Convention. States like South Carolina, Delaware, and New Jersey, which were less populated, feared the Union would be dominated by the more populated states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.\r\nThis is displayed in the structure of Congress, with House of Representatives membership established by population and Senate membership guaranteed equally between states at two senators apiece.\r\nThe Electoral College also balances the interests of larger and smaller states. Since larger states have more representatives, they carry more weight in the presidential vote, but smaller states have enough weight that presidential candidates cannot afford to overlook them.\r\nCompromises such as the Electoral College created the glue that bound the Union together. Without this constitutional compromise, the United States may never have united at all. Foreign powers then could have picked off individual states or parts of the continent piecemeal, leaving whatever independent states that remained weak and divided. We would likely not have become the prosperous superpower that has no equal in world history.\r\nGetting rid of the Electoral College today would greatly weaken the bonds of the Union.\r\nIf the popular vote became the basis for electing presidents, less populated areas of the country would likely not see candidates at all nor feel represented by them once elected. A few urban areas, chiefly in the Northeast and California, would decide everything. Rural areas and even smaller cities would be ignored.\r\nBecause the office of the president has become even more powerful than anticipated at the time of the constitutional compromise, those areas which felt ignored likely would rethink their commitment to the Union.\r\nCritics of the Electoral College believe simply electing a president by popular vote is most important. They cite the occasions when the electoral vote winner diverged from the popular vote winner, but they overlook the fact that the Electoral College has often actually amplified a president's authority to lead the country.\r\nAmong the presidents who failed to collect a popular vote majority in one of their campaigns were Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, and Bill Clinton each won two terms without obtaining a popular vote majority either time. Victories in the Electoral College gave these presidents their mandates to govern.\r\nElectoral College opponents also criticize our system as being one of a kind. They note that no other country picks its leader in the same way.\r\nBut the facts are that each country has its own traditions, interests, and values. Ours are served by the Electoral College. Those of other democracies have led them to their own systems, many of which do not elect their leaders by popular vote.\r\nFor example, Britain's prime minister takes office as the leader of the party with the most support in the House of Commons. In recent years, some prime ministers have held the position for years only after winning the party leadership, not a general election with themselves as party leader, or having the largest share of parliamentary supporters but not a majority.\r\nIn many democracies, such as Germany, no party has a majority and a coalition of parties rules through backroom deals.\r\nIn Norway, although the Labour Party has more seats than any other single party, a coalition led by the Conservative Party and the Progress Party currently leads the country.\r\nThe Electoral College serves important constitutional purposes. Schemes to eliminate it fail to account for our system, which provides both for majority rule and minority rights. This balance remains essential to preserving our Union.\r\nYou can contact me via my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405, my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671, or email atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402369", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 10.5.20", "2020-10-05", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Since COVID-19 first developed, we have learned a lot about the virus. Although far from unlocking all its secrets, scientists now know much more about its symptoms and transmission, as well as how to treat it.\r\nBy contrast, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) does not appear to have learned much over the past few months. That is the unfortunate lesson to be drawn from her decision to put a bill with no chance of becoming law on the House floor months after the House already voted on a similar bill that went nowhere.\r\nThe original bill, H.R. 6800, was dubbed the HEROES Act by the Democrats and passed the House in May. It spent $3.4 trillion, much of it on liberal priorities far removed from needs arising out of the coronavirus pandemic.\r\nThat bill does not have enough support to pass the Senate. Previous coronavirus relief efforts have been signed into law by President Trump after passing both chambers with substantial bipartisan majorities.\r\nAfter H.R. 6800 was dead in the water for several months, the reasonable course of action for Speaker Pelosi would have been to negotiate with Republicans in good faith on a compromise that could become law. Instead, the House Democrat leadership opted to put a similar version of H.R. 6800 on the floor on October 1.\r\nAdmittedly, HEROES Act 2.0 is less costly than the original bill. It would only spend $2.2 trillion. In a national emergency such as the pandemic, it is appropriate for Congress to spend more than it otherwise would, but that is not a license to spend freely on non-priorities. Further, Congress has already appropriated more than $3 trillion, much of which has not been spent.\r\nIt is notable what did not make the cut in a $2.2 trillion bill. Among the provisions that were in H.R. 6800 in May was $600 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program. That funding is now gone.\r\nBut it still retains many of the original bill's misguided, counterproductive, and unnecessary policy changes and spending.\r\nAs Election Day nears, HEROES Act 2.0 imposes impossible and intrusive mandates on states regarding their conduct of elections, including prohibitions on voter ID requirements. These provisions take away control over administering elections from states, where it has traditionally resided, and opens the door to confusion and fraud.\r\nAt this point, we know that a high unemployment supplement can provide individuals with more income than returning to work, deterring them from going back to their jobs. Many employers have told me that this is the case.\r\nIf Speaker Pelosi was serious, she would have worked on a formula for unemployment that would work well in the different parts of the country, but HEROES 2.0 provides the same $600 per week provided for unemployment included when we didn't have time to figure out a more effective formula.\r\nI would support a reasonable amount for an unemployment supplement, but not so much that it encourages people to stay unemployed.\r\nFurther, illegal immigrants would be able to receive stimulus payments, as the bill does not require Social Security number verification.\r\nPolice officers may not receive any more money from the bill, but coastal billionaires do with the repeal of limitations on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. If you read this column regularly, you may remember this scheme, which has people in places like Saltville paying federal taxes to offset high local taxes in places like San Francisco and New York City.\r\nI voted no on this legislation, but I know there are proposals that will help people and have broad support.\r\nOne such bill, H.R. 8265, introduced by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH), would allow qualified small businesses to receive a second loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which has been an effective tool to keep Americans employed. It would also simplify the loan forgiveness process and expand eligible expenses covered by the loan.\r\nIf brought to the House floor, I believe H.R. 8265 would pass easily. It would also have support in the Senate. Yet Speaker Pelosi refuses to put it to a vote, so I signed a discharge petition to bypass her and bring it to the floor.\r\nThe pandemic has gone on for months, and our priorities in responding to it should be clear. It is unfortunate that House Democratic leaders have chosen to pursue other priorities.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402367", "Griffith Statement on H. Res. 1153", "2020-10-02", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Statement on H. Res. 1153 \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Friday,\r\n      October 2, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement today after voting against H. Res. 1153:\r\nI am disturbed by reports of forced medical procedures taking place on detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These allegations warrant investigation and condemnation if found to be true. No one should be subjected to an unwanted medical procedure.\r\nThe resolution on the floor today, however, went beyond that sentiment, which has broad support. By unnecessarily including an endorsement of abortion, the resolution lost my support. We should be upholding the dignity of all human life, from detainees in ICE custody to the unborn.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402368", "Ninth District Traveling Staff Office Hours for October", "2020-10-02", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Griffith's Ninth DistrictSTAFFwill be available at the following locations during the month ofOctober. Traveling office hours follow the status of local government offices, which vary across the 22 counties and nine independent cities of the Ninth District. As local governments offices reopen, office hours will be resumed. Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.\r\nOctober 8, 2020\r\nGiles County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Pearisburg Offices  \r\n112 Tazewell Street  \r\nPearisburg, VA 24134\r\nWythe County: 1:30 pm  3:00 pm\r\nWythe County Sheriff's Office  \r\nConference Room  \r\n245 South 4th Street  \r\nWytheville, VA 24382 October 13, 2020\r\nCraig County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCraig County Administration Bldg.  \r\n108 Court Street  \r\nNew Castle, VA 24127\r\nAlleghany County: 12:00 pm  1:30 pm\r\nClifton Forge Library  \r\nConference Room  \r\n535 Church Street  \r\nClifton Forge, VA 24422\r\nOctober 14, 2020\r\nScott County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCommunity Services Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\n190 Beech Street  \r\nGate City, VA 24251\r\nLee County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nLee County Sheriff's Office  \r\nConference Room  \r\n33640 Main Street  Suite U101  \r\nJonesville, VA 24263\r\nWise County: 3:15 pm  4:45 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse  \r\n3rd Floor Room 303  \r\n322 Wood Ave. E  \r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\nOctober 15, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Tazewell): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nAmerican Legion Building  \r\n226 Central Avenue  \r\nTazewell, VA 24651\r\nRussell County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nCommunity Center  \r\n72 Gibson Street  \r\nLebanon, VA 24266\r\nOctober 20, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Richlands): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nTown of Richlands Offices  \r\n200 Washington Square  \r\nRichlands, VA 24641\r\nBuchanan County: 1:00 pm  2:30 pm\r\nTown of Grundy Offices  \r\n1185 Plaza Dr.  \r\nGrundy, VA 24614\r\nOctober 21, 2020\r\nCarroll County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCarroll County Administration Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\n605  1 Pine Street  \r\nHillsville, VA 24343\r\nGalax: 11:30 am  1:00 pm\r\nMunicipal Building  \r\nConference Room  \r\n111 E. Grayson Street  \r\nGalax, VA 24333\r\nGrayson County: 2:30pm  4:00pm\r\nGrayson County Administration Building  \r\nBoard of Supervisors Room  \r\nSuite 206  \r\n129 Davis Street  \r\nIndependence, VA 24348\r\nOctober 22, 2020\r\nTazewell County (Bluefield): 10:00 am  11:30 am\r\nTown of Bluefield  Council Chambers  \r\n112 Huffard Drive  \r\nBluefield, VA 24605\r\nOctober 27, 2020\r\nNorton: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nCity Council Chambers  \r\n618 Virginia Avenue NW  \r\nNorton, VA 24273\r\nWise County: 11:00 am  12:30 pm\r\nBig Stone Gap Federal Courthouse  \r\n3rd Floor Room 303  \r\n322 Wood Avenue E  \r\nBig Stone Gap, VA 24219\r\nDickenson County: 2:30 pm  4:30 pm\r\nDickenson Center for Education & Research  \r\n818 Happy Valley Drive  \r\nClintwood, VA 24228\r\nOctober 28, 2020\r\nFloyd County: 9:00 am  10:30 am\r\nTown of Floyd Offices  \r\n134 Wilson Street SE  \r\nFloyd, VA 24091\r\nPatrick County: 11:30 am  1:00 pm\r\nPatrick County Administration Building  \r\nConference Room  \r\n106 Rucker Street  \r\nStuart, VA 24171\r\nMartinsville: 2:00 pm  3:30 pm\r\nCity of Martinsville Municipal Building  \r\nConference Room #32, Lower Level  \r\n55 W. Church Street  \r\nMartinsville, VA 24112\r\n** Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402365", "Griffith Applauds $2,297,356 in Federal Grants for Ninth District Workforce Training", "2020-09-29", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds $2,297,356 in Federal Grants for Ninth District Workforce Training \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      September 29, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The U.S. Department of Labor in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded a total of $2,297,356 to recipients based in Virginia's Ninth Congressional District through the Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) program. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nWorkforce development paves the way for economic opportunity. The more than $2 million awarded through the WORC program will support worker training that meets the economic needs of our region. These funds represent an impressive commitment to Southwest Virginia's rural communities by the Trump Administration.\r\nThe recipients are:\r\nTazewell County: $1,443,900  \r\nAppalachian Sustainable Development: $853,456\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402366", "Griffith-Cosponsored Bill to Promote American Technology Passes House", "2020-09-29", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith-Cosponsored Bill to Promote American Technology Passes House \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      September 29, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the American COMPETE Act, a bill to promote American technological leadership in cutting-edge fields including quantum computing and unmanned vehicles. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) is a cosponsor of the bill. He issued the following statement:\r\nAmerica must maintain its primacy in developing technologies to solve the challenges of the 21st century. Our national security and economic prospects depend on it.\r\nThe American COMPETE Act, which I cosponsored, will keep our country moving forward in key areas of technological development. It includes legislation I introduced to encourage quantum computing and also supports the unmanned delivery services that have broken new ground in the Ninth District. I am glad to see it advance with bipartisan support in the House.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402364", "Congressman Griffiths Weekly E-Newsletter 9.25.20", "2020-09-25", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Responses to the coronavirus pandemic introduced a distinction between essential and non-essential workers.\r\nBased on how Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been running the U.S. House of Representatives lately, she seems to think Members of Congress fall in the non-essential category.\r\nI have written previously about how the proxy voting rules instituted in the House run afoul of the Constitution and reduce our effectiveness as legislators. Representatives currently have the ability to let another member cast their votes for them. Among other serious constitutional flaws, I believe this setup violates the requirement that the House have a quorum to conduct business.\r\nQuite simply, it allows some representatives to not do their jobs. The Washington Post noted this fact in a story published earlier this month, highlighting the views of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who supports proxy voting, and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who opposes it:\r\nIn a late July exchange with Hoyer, Scalise noted that there is a 15 percent increase in those using proxy voting late in the last legislative day of the week.\r\nYou're literally signing a document on your stationery to the clerk of the House saying you're physically unable to be here, when you were physically here that day, Scalise said.\r\nA recent energy bill that came to the floor, H.R. 4447, highlights many of the problems in Speaker Pelosi's rule over the House.\r\nSome individual pieces of the bill had gone through the committee process, but others did not, and the 900-page overall bill went straight to the floor.\r\nIt contains a jumble of policies that add regulatory burdens and impose more mandates on the American people while impeding the innovation that could actually solve our energy challenges.\r\nSome aspects of H.R. 4447 have bipartisan support, but others cater to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) Green New Deal agenda, thus making it a show vote rather than a serious piece of legislation.\r\nA total of 97 amendments to the bill were allowed to go to the floor, but they were divided up into four packages of amendments that had to be voted on en bloc. Just like the overall bill, these amendments contained some policies I would support on their own paired with unacceptable policies that would harm energy security, reliability, and affordability in this country.\r\nWhile reading over those 97 amendments, I found at least a half-dozen Democratic amendments I could have supported on their own in addition to many of the Republican amendments that I believe would have improved the bill.\r\nNotably, the only amendment that received an up or down vote on its own was offered by Congresswomen Debra Haaland (D-NM), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the latter two members of the liberal Squad. It would increase spending on renewable energy research by 50 percent.\r\nI am a supporter of research, but in addition to spending money we do not have, this drastic increase would serve purposes far removed from our country's energy needs. In fact, without the increase, we still spend more on renewable energy than on the U.S. Department of Energy offices of fossil energy, nuclear energy, electricity, and cybersecurity combined.\r\nDuring hearings of the House's Climate Committee, I have asked witnesses about parity in research dollars on sources of energy production. Many of those who are more liberal agree that also supporting fossil fuel research is important to the goal of lowering carbon emissions.\r\nAs many parts of the world, including China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa will continue to burn fossil fuels, research could bring about ways to burn them more cleanly.\r\nIn any event, there was no way allowing a separate vote solely on that amendment and the other 96 only in large groups could produce good legislation.\r\nPackaging en bloc amendments for fewer votes supposedly minimizes the chances of contracting COVID-19, but I believe we can make other adjustments, such as assigned seating, using the visitors' gallery, and adding more congressional voting machines, to safely accommodate more votes on amendments.\r\nI believe we were elected to take tough votes. I read the amendments and was ready to vote on them. But Speaker Pelosi's pandemic procedures do not let us do the jobs we were elected to do. Clearly, she believes lawmaking is non-essential.\r\nIf you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402359", "Griffith Applauds USDA Rural Development Award of $6,291,000 to Saltville for Water Infrastructure", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today awarded a loan of $3,264,000 and a grant of $3,027,000 to the Town of Saltville for water infrastructure. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nWater infrastructure is important to the health, quality of life, and economic potential of a community. Today's award by USDA Rural Development of $6,291,000 to Saltville will support a major upgrade to the town's water and sewer systems. This is a significant investment for the people of Saltville.\r\nFurther Information\r\nUSDA Rural Development funding will support:\r\n-installation of approximately 16,550 linear feet of water main, water line, and service line;  \r\n-construction of a new 100,000-gallon water storage tank;  \r\n-a new pump station;  \r\n-rehabilitation of an existing pump station;  \r\n-installation of approximately 20,000 linear feet of 8 sewer collection line and approximately 1,200 linear feet of 4 sewer lateral;  \r\n-point repairs of existing sewer line;  \r\n-repairs to an aerial sewer crossing; and  \r\n-wastewater treatment plant improvements.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402360", "Griffith Applauds USDA Rural Development Award of $875,000 to Stuart for Water Infrastructure", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds USDA Rural Development Award of $875,000 to Stuart for Water Infrastructure \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      September 22, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today awarded a loan of $454,000 and a grant of $421,000 to the Town of Stuart to improve the town's wastewater treatment plant. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nWater infrastructure is important to the health, quality of life, and economic potential of a community. Today's award by USDA Rural Development of $875,000 to Stuart will support a major upgrade to the town's wastewater treatment plant. This is a significant investment for the people of Stuart.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402361", "Griffith Applauds Appalachian Regional Commission Award of $266,880 for Education in Martinsville and Henry County", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds Appalachian Regional Commission Award of $266,880 for Education in Martinsville and Henry County \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      September 22, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded two grants totaling $266,880 for educational opportunities in Martinsville and Henry County. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nEducation holds the key to workforce development, which will attract new businesses and improve employment opportunities. Today's award of $266,880 from the Appalachian Regional Commission for educational programs in Martinsville and Henry County will help develop skills and expand possibilities for the region's workforce.\r\nFurther Information\r\nARC awarded $216,880 to the Harvest Foundation for its Workforce Foundations: Advancing Childhood Education in Martinsville and Henry County project. This project will expand early childhood education businesses by increasing the number of fully trained and credentialed early childcare professionals in Henry County.\r\nARC awarded $50,000 to the New College Institute to produce a curriculum for a Center for Trades Entrepreneurship.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402362", "Griffith Applauds Appalachian Regional Commission Award of $718,027 to Lee County for Water Infrastructure", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded two grants totaling $718,027 to Lee County for water infrastructure projects. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nWater infrastructure is important to the health, quality of life, and economic potential of a community. Today's award of $718,027 by the Appalachian Regional Commission will support a major upgrade to the water systems in Lee County. This is a significant investment for the people of the county.\r\nFurther Information\r\nARC awarded $500,000 for the St. Charles Water Line Replacement  Phase III project. It will support the replacement of 17,730 linear feet of waterline traveling from the former sewer plant, south of St. Charles, on State Route 352 through town and then northward along State Route 636 to Turner's Siding at Routes 636 and 635. It will decrease water loss occurring from damage to the old waterline.\r\nARC awarded $218,027 for the Field Waterline Replacement Phase II project. It will support the replacement of 7,771 linear feet of waterline in the Fields community of Ewing, serving 36 households along State Route 724 and along Thistle, Sagebrush, and Briar Cliff Drives.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402363", "Griffith Applauds Appalachian Regional Commission Award of $400,000 to Project Intersection", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Applauds Appalachian Regional Commission Award of $400,000 to Project Intersection \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Tuesday,\r\n      September 22, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) today awarded $400,000 to the Norton Industrial Development Authority for infrastructure development at Project Intersection. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:\r\nProject Intersection holds great promise for job growth and economic opportunity in the coalfields region. Today's award of $400,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission will help with infrastructure development to prepare the site for use. It is a major step forward for this important project.\r\nFurther Information\r\nARC's grant will support 6,100 linear feet of waterline, 1,800 linear feet of sewer line, and 2,100 linear feet of both broadband and gas line. These upgrades will aid in recruiting businesses to locate at the site.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402358", "Griffith Statement on Justice Ginsburg", "2020-09-18", "2020", "2020-09", "Republican", "Senate", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Griffith Statement on Justice Ginsburg \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Friday,\r\n      September 18, 2020\r\n    \r\n     | \r\n    Kevin Baird\r\n    (202-225-3861)\r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement upon the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:\r\nI am sorry to learn of the death of Justice Ginsburg. Her service as only the second woman on the Supreme Court was the capstone of a long and notable legal career.  \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 46, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"party\" = :p1 and \"state\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "Republican", "p2": "VA"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 46, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=VA", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 46, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=VA", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA", "results": [{"value": "VA", "label": "VA", "count": 46, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA", "results": [{"value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 45, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA&year=2020", "selected": false}, {"value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 1, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Republican&state=VA&year=2021", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": null, "next_url": null, "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 242.71318223327398, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}